Hera
by Diamond Catus
Summary: Commander Adama accidentally bumps into a young girl and invites her to take a tour of his bridge and then to dinner. She very soon becomes a close friend to everyone. Then an attack from the Cylons threatens Adama's life. Rated T only for violence. P


Commander Adama was walking through the halls of his ship, Battlestar Galacitca. He was deep in thought as he traversed the different areas, so he did not notice when someone was headed straight towards him at top speed.

They bumped into each other and the person, who turned out to be a young girl, got knocked down. "I am so sorry Commander! I don't know what got into me," the girl apologized.

"Oh it is quite all right, it was my fault for not watching where I was going. What is your name?"

"H-Hera," the girl answered shyly.

"Well, Hera, it was good to meet you. Maybe you can visit the bridge sometime and have a tour."

"Really? That would be wonderful. When should you expect me?"

"You can come anytime you want, except if we are under attack by the Cylons."

Hera smiled. "Thank you so much, Commander." She ran off to prepare to go to the bridge. She knew she was not properly dressed. All she had were tattered garments, but she would choose her least tattered dress and mend it as best as she could and wear that.

Later, Hera was searching for an outfit that would be easy to mend and would look nice. She realized that the dress she was wearing was the best dress she had. She sighed and decided to wear that.

On the bridge, Commander Adama heard a loud commotion and turned to find that the guards on the bridge trying to hold someone down. He went over to see whom it was.

"Let me go! Commander Adama said I could have a tour!" Hera yelled.

"Let her go. She has my permission to be here. She is going to take a tour, and you will show her everything until I can come and do it personally."

The guards reluctantly put her down and grudgingly showed her each station and its function. Hera was very interested. She had never been on the bridge of a ship before, and she took in everything she saw slowly, in order to savor the moment.

Adama watched as Hera went about the bridge, watching everything and he smiled at her reaction. 'Reminds me of when I first came onto a bridge many yahrens ago,' he thought.

After the tour, Adama invited Hera to dinner. "My son, Apollo will be there, as will my daughter, Athena. Oh, and let's not forget my grandson. His name is Boxey. He has a daggit, named Thor.

"It would be a great honor to join you for supper. What time will it be?"

"Why don't you come with me now and stay for supper? You can go back to your quarters afterwards."

"Yes. That will be fine."

"Do you need to notify your parents?"

Hera hesitated, and then said, "No. My parents were killed when the cylons attacked. I was the only one of my family who was able to survive. All of my family was killed. My sisters, and my two brothers. I was unable to help any of them."

Adama could see the pain in Hera's eyes. He knew how it felt to lose a loved one. He had lost his youngest son in an attack from the cylons. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I'm sorry. I did not mean to bother you with my troubles. I understand if you don't want me to come to dinner now."

"I will here of no such thing. You had better come to dinner. I already told my daughter that we would be having a guest, and she is cooking for an extra person. You would not want that food to go to waste, would you?"

"No, I would not. All right, I will come. Thank you again, for inviting me."

"Think nothing of it. Now, come. It is time to go to our quarters." Adama led Hera to his quarters. A little boy with red hair came running out and jumped into his arms.

"Grandpa!"

"Hello, Boxey. I would like you to meet Hera. She is going to have supper with us."

The young boy looked shyly at Hera, and she returned the shy look.

"I'm Boxey. This is my daggit, Thor." He pointed to a robotic daggit. Hera laughed as she saw it do a funny trick. "He likes you."

"Well, I like him. It's very nice to meet you, both." Hera shook Boxey's hand and then Thor's paw.

Adama smiled at the interaction between Boxey and Hera. He then led them into the dining area, where Athena was cooking and Apollo was attempting to sneak some food.

"Apollo! How many times do I have to tell you: do not steal food? We have a guest this evening, and I doubt you would want to go hungry, would you?"

"Fine. Who is coming? I don't remember father telling me that we had a guest. Unless it's Starbuck, but he usually comes uninvited."

"It's not Starbuck. Though he should be showing up any centon now. He never arrives late for supper. Our guest tonight is Hera. I met her earlier. We had a run in. I'm afraid that I knocked her down."

Hera stood in a corner silently as everyone turned to look at her. She observed everyone, and then asked, "May I help in any way?"

"You don't need to help. Supper is almost ready and we don't allow guests to work with supper anyway. The guest should not have to work for their food. But Apollo would love to help set the table, wouldn't you?"

"What? Oh, yes, I suppose." Apollo got out the plates, glasses, and utensils. He proceeded to set the table. Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"What did I tell you? He's always on time for supper." Adama commented laughingly. He went to answer the door. As Adama had predicted, it was Starbuck.

The rest of the evening went pleasantly for Hera. She endured teasing from Starbuck, who always teased everyone. After supper, she asked if she could help with the dishes, but was refused once again.

"Why don't you play chess with father?" Athena asked.

"Oh, I don't think that is such a good idea. I would not want her to be disappointed because of losing."

"I would not speak too soon, Commander. I am a decent chess player, myself. I could beat you, you know."

"Well, alright. One game, perhaps."

Hera smiled. She did not say so, but she had been a chess tournament champion for three yahrens in a row. She watched as Adama set up the board. "May I be white? It's my lucky color."

"Of course. The guest always gets the first pick of the color."

"Thank you." Hera began playing. She moved a piece, pretending to not know what she was doing. But her strategy was flawless. She had perfected it over the yahrens, and now had it down to a science. Whenever she used this way of playing, she never lost. All of her opponents reacted the same way to each of her moves.

After she had moved a few pieces seemingly at random, she realized that Adama seemed to know her strategy. He moved differently than her other opponents did. She wondered if he had seen her televised during the tournaments and had memorized her strategy. So she decided to move according to what she thought his intentions were, though she knew that was a huge mistake. She had always been taught to move according to your instincts, not what the other player is doing.

"Hera, did you watch the chess tournaments televised for the past few yahrens?"

"Maybe, why?"

"Well, you were using the exact strategy the champion was using."

"I was the champion. Did I teach you all that you know about chess?"

"Actually, yes you did. I have been using all of that girl's strategies, and if you're that girl, then you did teach me all that I know."

Hera smiled. She had kept one secret about chess to herself. She had not used it on anyone. But now, she thought that she could use it and he would be stumped. It was a combination of moves, and she had tested it on a computer and won.

After a few more moves, Hera exclaimed, "Checkmate!"

Adama examined the remaining pieces and realized that her queen, a rook, and two pawns boxed in his king on all sides. There was no way out. "Well done. I have never seen a girl so young with so much intellect."

"Thank you. You did very well yourself. There were a few times that you almost had me."

Over the next few months, Hera became as one of the family; like a granddaughter to Adama. She had grown to love each of them as her own family. She loved Boxey as a brother, and played catch with him and Thor whenever she visited. She visited almost every day.

Apollo watched them playing catch one day, observed Hera. She always caught the ball with perfect precision. She never missed or fumbled it.

"Hera, How can you catch the ball so accurately?" he asked.

"It's quite easy, actually. I simply calculate the speed and trajectory of the ball. I can then determine where it will be at a given time, and catch it."

"You can do that in your head? I know pilots who are very good with that, but they still need to use the computer to calculate everything accurately. I only know of one pilot who was able to calculate everything in his head. He died in the first attack. He had not seen the Cylon ship behind him."

"I have always been able to do it. I guess it didn't occur to me that it wasn't normal." Hera looked at Apollo curiously. She did not realize that she was a prodigy. A genius. Then she looked pained. She knew whom he was talking about. It had been her father. "That was my father. He called me on radio right before he left to fight. I told him to be careful, but he didn't listen to me. He was able to calculate everything to the exact decimal place! And he died from not paying attention." Hera tried to hide the fact that she was about to start crying.

Adama came into the room and saw the tears brimming in Hera's eyes. "What's wrong, Hera?" He had an extremely concerned expression on his face.

"Nothing." Hera quickly wiped her eyes. She did not want to appear weak.

Adama did not believe her for a micron. "Are you sure? If you need to cry, do it. There will be no judgment."

Hera remained expressionless. She did not appear to let her mask come off.

"If you don't want to cry, that's fine as well."

At that remark, the mask was immediately torn from her face and the tears came. Hera had not cried since she saw her father's name on the list of casualties. Now, with Adama there to hold her, Hera cried until her tears no longer came.

The next day, Adama was in the bridge, and Hera was there also. She had asked him to teach her to fly the fighter ships. He had told her that he would have Apollo teach her when she was a few yahrens older.

"Commander! A fleet of Cylons approaching on starboard side! They're heading for the bridge!"

"Battle stations! Hera!–" That was as far as Adama got before the explosion. Adama was thrown across the platform from the impact. Some debris fell on him. Hera was also thrown across the platform. She hit her head and blacked out.

A few centons later, Hera woke up in the midst of wreckage. There were a few dazed people getting up and helping each other. She saw Adama's foot sticking out from a pile of debris. "Grandpa!" Hera immediately struggled with trying to move the heavy pieces of metal and wood. "Can someone please help? The Commander is under here!"

The people noted Hera calling the Commander 'Grandpa,' but they did not mention it. Instead, they just started helping her move the rubble. When it was cleared, Hera went to see that he was still alive. He was still breathing, and his heart was beating, but both were weak.

"Get the doctor! Quickly!"

One of the crew immediately ran to call the doctor. Some of the crew was making a makeshift gurney with some of the metal. They placed Adama on it and started carrying him to the sick bay. On the way, a few medical personnel were pushing an empty gurney. They stopped and said that it was for Adama. Adama was immediately moved to the gurney and rushed to the emergency section. Hera went with him. She noticed all the other people in the room.

"The damage was this bad?"

"Yes. We have a fire raging throughout the ship. Apollo, Athena, Boxey, and Thor are trapped on one of the levels with several other people."

Hera was horrified. "No. That can't be."

"They are in radio contact. Apollo has just asked to speak with you."

"Where is the radio?"

"Here."

"Apollo? It's Hera. Come in."

"Hera? Thank the Wise Ones you are all right. How is Father?"

Hera glanced at Adama. She knew that he would have to know. "He has been hurt very badly. He was thrown across the platform and debris fell on top of him. The doctor is examining him now. It looked as though he was bleeding on his chest."

There was silence on the other end. Hera was afraid she had lost Apollo.

"Apollo? Are you still there?"

"Yes. Stay with him. Will you?"

"Of course. I won't leave his side." Hera signed off and went to Adama's side. "How is he?"

"He has a piece of metal lodged in the wall of his heart. I will have to operate."

"It will be dangerous, won't it?"

"Yes, but his chance of survival will be increased if I operate than if I leave the metal."

"I understand. Do it." Hera had already lost both her parents; she did not want to lose the only other person who had first shown kindness since they had died.

Adama was barely conscious when he heard Hera tell the doctor to operate. He tried to tell them he was fine, that he did not need an operation, but he could not speak. He opened his eyes slightly and reached out to Hera. He took her hand.

Hera was startled when Adama took her hand. She looked at him and almost started crying. Kneeling down, she told him that they were going to operate to take the metal out of his heart. He would have a higher chance of survival. "It's all for the best."

Adama spoke so quietly that she had to lean very closely to hear him. "Do what you believe will be best. As you might be able to see, I am in no condition to return to the bridge, as I have found out."

Hera silently nodded. She squeezed Adama's hand and let the doctor take him into the operating room. It was then, while she was alone, that she let the tears fall. They were silent, but they were there. In order to get her mind off the operation, Hera decided to see to the other patients. She went to the one closest to her and asked if she could them anything. The man was thirsty, so she got a small amount of water for him. She did the same for the other patients, and when she was finished, she just waited.

Apollo and Athena had gotten all of the people in close proximity inside a storage closet. They were sharing oxygen masks so they could breathe.

Boxey had found a ventilation grate and removed it. Thor immediately started barking in his mechanical voice and ran into the vent. Boxey ran and jumped to go after him, but Apollo grabbed his feet and pulled him out. He called Thor back. Thor came back.

"We can send a note. I need some paper and a writing utensil!"

A few people gave their paper and one had a pen. Apollo immediately wrote a short note and attached it to Thor.

"Find Hera!"

Thor ran back into the vent and made his way through the web. When he got to grates, he would stop and look for Hera. He did not find her, so he continued on. One time he saw men fighting the fire and one was injured. He had fallen behind and the others could not get him. Thor jumped down and dragged the man to safety. At the same time, he found where Hera was. He took the man to the sick bay and saw Hera sitting in one of the chairs.

Hera saw a man being dragged into the sick bay. She immediately went to help him into a bed, and saw that Thor was the one dragging him. "Thor! What are you doing here?" She helped the man to the nearest bed and went to search Thor for anything that would give her a clue as to where Apollo and the others were. She found the note and read it. It said that they were in a storage closet in the third level. It also said that they had limited oxygen and there were many injured.

Hera knew that the fire fighters were on the third level. That was where the fire was. She decided to have Thor lead a few of them to where the group was stranded. She put a note on the other side of the paper and attached it to Thor. "Find some fire men and lead them to Boxey!"

Thor barked and ran off to do as he was told. Hera watched him and then turned to attend to the fireman. He had a large cut on his forehead and several cuts and bruises on the skin that had been exposed. He was also burned.

"Someone come here to help this man! He has several burns on his body."

A few nurses came and started washing his wounds. When they were done, they put bandages on him and then put him on a bed with a warm blanket.

Hera looked toward the operating room doors and then went back to asking if anyone needed water. She gave the patients their water rations and sat back down. Since she was not a qualified nurse, that was all she was allowed to do. They only allowed her to do that because they did not have enough personnel.

An hour later, the doctors and nurses came out wheeling the gurney. Hera had dozed off, but as soon as she heard the doors open she woke up. She looked at the doctor imploringly and the doctor nodded but looked solemn.

"I believe he will make it, but he is still in critical condition."

Hera nodded. Adama was not past the danger. As soon as he was placed on a bed, she sat next to him and held his hand. "Please don't die. I need you to live and tell Apollo to teach me how to fly." Her words continued like that until she could not keep her eyes open. She slowly laid her head down on Adama's shoulder, facing away from his head. Her tears had started falling and now she had cried herself to sleep.

Thor had found some fire fighters and started barking at them. They noticed him and quickly went to him. One of them found the note and ordered the others to follow Thor.

Apollo and the others were very near the end of the oxygen supply. They continued switching off, but now they also had to have periods where no one had an oxygen mask.

They heard knocking on the doors, but they thought it was just debris falling. Then they heard shouting. Apollo moved to the door and started shouting back, knowing that someone was out there.

"Step away from the doors! We are going to put some explosives on them to get you out!"

"Everyone move as far back as you can! We're getting out!"

All the people moved back to the wall. Apollo shouted that they were safe. He told the people surrounding him to cover their heads. A huge explosion ripped through the closet and then the men were coming in.

"Thor!" Boxey ran towards the daggit. Everyone was relieved and even laughed a bit.

"Okay, we have to get everyone out, but we'll do it a few people at a time. There's only enough room for seven people to be in the halls. But since we are in an emergency, I can only take three people at a time. I will take three, and when Thor comes back, a man will take three more, and so on and so forth. Captain Apollo will also take three. Does everyone understand?"

Every single one of the people agreed. They knew that they would eventually get out, so they got into groups of three and got in line. Boxey was one of the first to go because he was a child.

Apollo gripped the man's arm. "Take good care of him."

The man nodded, saying, "I will." They left.

A few minutes later Thor came back and the next group left. This continued until everyone was accounted for and safe. As soon as they got to a safe level, Apollo went to the sick bay. He wanted to thank Hera and to see how his father was doing.

When he got to the sick bay, he found Hera asleep, next to Adama. Adama was also asleep. Apollo decided he would let them wake up when they were rested. He felt Hera deserved the rest she was receiving now.

Adama felt himself slowly awakening. He was unable to move his right arm, and realized it was because something was on it. He also realized that someone was holding his hand tightly. He opened his eyes and saw that Hera was the one beside him. Slowly lifting his left arm, despite the pain, he stroked her hair. The action woke her.

Hera felt someone stroking her hair, and at first she did not know where she was or what had happened. Then it all came back in one swift flood of memories. She sat up quickly and looked around. Adama was the one who had been smoothing her hair.

"Grandpa," she whispered. She smiled and hugged him as best as she could. It was not until then that she figured out what she had said. She sat up and looked away, feeling that she had crossed a boundary that she should not have crossed. "I – I have to attend to the other patients." She got up to leave, but Adama took her hand.

"You deserve the right to call me grandpa. You have grown to be loved in our family, and, if you would like, I want you to be a part of the family. For the kindness you have shown to Boxey when we do not have time to play catch with him, for the kindness you have shown to me by staying with me all this time. You are now a part of the family, whether you decide to take the offer or not. Remember that."

Hera sat back down. She smiled. "Really? I can be part of the family? I would love to have the honor of having your name. Thank you, Ada–" Hera caught herself and smiled. "I mean, Grandpa."


End file.
